Fr. Owen Gorman wrote this article for his column on the March 2012 issue of the Alive
newspaper in Ireland after making a review of the alleged divine revelations from an anonymous Irish visionary hiding behind a false name 'Maria Divine Mercy'. Below is the article:
Many faithful Christians at present believe that the world
has gotten so bad that God will intervene directly in human affairs to bring us
to our senses. Something big will happen, they say, and soon!
This view is central to a website, ‘the warning second
coming’, that is popular with some Catholics. It is associated with an
anonymous European seer’ who goes by the name, ‘Maria Divine Mercy’.
The website claims that since November 2010, ‘Maria’ has
been receiving messages from God the Father, Jesus and Our Lady. They speak of
a worldwide warning from God, the need for conversion and the Second Coming of
Christ.
In judging private revelations, the Church rightly proceeds
with great caution. If any “revelation” contains a substantive doctrinal or
moral error it can be dismissed as being ‘not of supernatural origin’.
Applying this standard to ‘Maria Divine Mercy’, we find a
number of doctrinal errors in her writings. Here are sample messages followed
by responses based on Church teaching:
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| Fr. Owen Gorman |
(1) Message (20 May 2011): Many people believe that My Second
Coming indicates that the end of the world has come. This is not the case, for
instead, it will mean the End Times when Satan and his followers will be
banished from earth for 1000 years.
Response:
The revelation of Jesus’ passion is found in the four Gospels, which are
inspired by God. To claim that the events around Jesus’
crucifixion have not been revealed as they were meant to be belittles Biblical revelation. It implies that
the Gospel accounts are defective. But this cannot be, for God Himself is the
author of Scripture which manifests his mind and will. Maria Divine Mercy has
not got this point right. Is anyone sniffing heresy here?
(2) Message (7 May 2011): My Passion the Cross and the atrocities
committed by man at My crucifixion have not been revealed to the world in the
way they were meant to be.
Response:
The revelation of Jesus’ passion is found in the four Gospels, which are
inspired by God. To claim that the
events around Jesus’ crucifixion have not been revealed as they were meant to
be belittles Biblical revelation. It implies that the Gospel accounts are
defective. But this cannot be, for God Himself is the author of Scripture which
manifests his mind and will. Maria Divine Mercy has not got this point right.
Is anyone sniffing heresy?
(3) Message (31 January2012):
I grant them [my disciples] [a] plenary indulgence to enable them carry
My torch of ?re so that they can spread conversion. They must say this prayer
for seven consecutive days and they will be given the gift of total absolution
and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Response: Private revelations often contain promises of
special rewards for faithful followers. But there are two big problems here.
(a) Jesus does not grant plenary indulgences. He has
delegated the dispensing of indulgences to Church authorities. They decide what
pious practices merit a plenary indulgence, and the conditions.
(b) total absolution of sins comes through the sacrament of
penance, not from reciting a particular prayer over a 7-day period, however
meritorious that prayer may be.
This small sampling of messages should make it clear that the
views on the ‘warning’ website contain serious doctrinal errors and are not a
reliable guide to the Catholic faith.
